Contents

Overview

The System 22 was designed by Namco with assistance from graphics & simulation company Evans & Sutherland. While the System 21 hardware design had the main CPU provide a scene description to a bank of DSP chips which perform all necessary 3D calculations, much of the graphics in the System 22 is now handled by the Evans & Sutherland 'TR3' (Texture Mapping, Real-Time, Real-Visual, Rendering System) GPU chipset.[2]

According to Namco America, the twin seat Ridge Racer arcade unit sold to distribution for $11995.00 in 1993, equivalent to $19649 in 2014. In Europe, the Ridge Racer Full Scale deluxe unit cost £150000 for arcade operators upon release,[7] equivalent to £269061 or $413290 in 2014.

A variant of the system, called the Super System 22, was released in 1995. The hardware was largely similar to the System 22, but with a higher polygon rate and more special effects possible. Both were contemporaneous with rival Sega's Model 1 and Model 2 arcade boards.